Ronald Johnson

October 27, 2009

Great catch and rebound from a tough game against Notre Dame. There were reports about RoJo being visibly upset after the ND win, which some took as being selfish and others as competitiveness. He was completely off-sync with Matt in that game, which was no surprise since it was his 1st game of the season, so it makes it all that more important that he bounced back strong against Oregon State with 6 catches for 99 yards and 1 TD. With Anthony McCoy likely out for Saturday against Oregon, we need RoJo to step up big.

August 20, 2009

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound five-star wideout attended Monday night's scrimmage, which is when his contemplation first turned into a commitment.

"I talked with Coach Carroll after the scrimmage and told him I wanted to be a Trojan," Woods said. "I just told him that I thought the team did a good job, and that I could see myself playing at USC.

"The whole staff was excited. Coach Norton has been recruiting me from the beginning, so he was fired up. It was an exciting night."

..."I'm done with visits," he said. "I actually already told several of the schools that I was committing. I told them that I wouldn't be able to make any trips.

"I want to focus on my team."

Big commitment from one of the few elite WR in this class. I'm not going to overhype this commitment because I've said numerous times before that I feel Robert is a bit overrated, which I still believe. Earlier in the year, I thought he was a rough top 50 guy, but after his performances on the national camp stage, I felt he should be considered a top 30 guy.

Then again what do rankings mean without considering class strength at the position?

Bottom-line, I think of recruiting in tiers using previous classes as benchmarks, and guys like Julio Jones, A.J. Green, and Arrelious Benn are elite. I see Robert right outside of the elite class, which in my mind would make him roughly a top 30-50 guy in any given solid class.

Rankings aside, this is a big commitment because of WR depth next year. If Damian Williams decides to jump early to the NFL, which seems like a good chance, we are left with no clear go-to receiver next season. Robert should have a real chance to step into the "Z" spot and he knows it:

"I'm a Z type of guy and Damian Williams is that guy for USC. I watch him when I'm out there because he's obviously doing something right. And if I can do what he does then I'm going to have great success at the next level."

Picture something like RoJo in the slot, Ausberry in the SE spot, and Robert wide as a flanker. Then the year after that hopefully George Farmer will come in and replace RoJo. It all makes sense.

February 09, 2008

USCFootball.com has a couple videos from a throwing session held by players this week. In the "part 2" video, RoJo's acceleration is amazing. Also like how the ball is coming out of Mitch Mustain's hands; he has a nice snap to his release.

June 03, 2007

Ronald Johnson, USC. Stunning how another USC guy makes this
list (they had two in the running back category I did in late March).
Johnson, in this scenario, is replacing the departed Steve Smith -- not
Dwayne Jarrett. Smith was a superior talent for Southern Cal and will
be a very good NFL player. However, Johnson is already the same size as
Smith. Johnson will get bigger and faster, and is a pure game-breaker.
The only way Johnson doesn't surpass Smith's tremendous production at
USC is if he moves to cornerback, where he would also be an upgrade. Verdict: Better.

I personally think it's a bit of a stretch, but I will admit that I never thought Steve Smith would come close to Keary Colbert. Based on what I've seen of RoJo, there is no question that he's the greater game-breaker, but will he be as consistent and reliable as SS? I'm not so sure about that one. Opinions?